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Post by girlfriday on Mar 4, 2011 8:02:21 GMT -6
Although this thread is mostly about Maria's book, because the summer 2008 lecture she gave about it (and much more!) is also referenced here, I thought I'd post a picture of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's lecture information poster: Sorry about the camera glare line running through the image!
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Post by maggiejones on Mar 4, 2011 10:06:47 GMT -6
I would of loved to have been there.
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Post by girlfriday on Mar 4, 2011 15:21:02 GMT -6
And I would love for the Met to have another event like this again!
Typically, each summer, the Met would have a few weekends in which a particular "Old Hollywood" star was celebrated. (I also went to the Cary Grant film-screenings and lecture with friend/author Nancy Nelson in Summer 2007). Aside from Gary and Cary, Katharine Hepburn, Rex Harrison, and a few others I'm forgetting have been celebrated.
It's really a worthwhile event all-around. For the price of the ticket, you get a lecture, three film screenings (over a two-day span) and admission to the Met for two days in a row. In 2009 and 2010, for some odd reason, they didn't have any such events. Sad! I hope they continue to have these lectures/film-screenings again soon, though! Maria should come back for another round of talking about her Dad!
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Post by maggiejones on Mar 4, 2011 16:04:03 GMT -6
I was in New York May 2009 and made a trip to Southampton to pay my respects to Gary & Rocky. We hope to make another trip over to the U.S in May. New York again of course.
P.S have a word with the powers that be and arrange another lecture with Maria & another three film screenings. ;D
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Post by maggiejones on Mar 16, 2011 18:50:09 GMT -6
I found this review on Maria's book " Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers "and wanted to share. Sometime ago, I found myself searching for spiritual fulfilment. It was critical moment in my life and I felt as though, I was in a desert all alone, exhausted and thirsty, longing to discover an oasis. Art, music, literature and film are some of my interests and I begun exploring them with renewed passion. One day, while flipping through the DVDs at my local store, "High Noon" caught my attention. I didn't buy it then but it stuck on my mind and few days later I went back and bought it. I watched it in the evening. I watched Gary Cooper's performance in awe and I knew, I have found my oasis. Since then, I collected all of his available films, searching for the rare ones all over the world. Seeing these movies is one of the best things that ever happened to me. Gary Cooper gave me a wonderful world of emotional depth, a world of eternal love, friendship, gallantry, selflessness and patriotism. A world-refuge, where I'm able to lose myself for a while and then come back to reality inspired. Naturally, after seeing 70 Gary Cooper films, I had pretty good idea what kind of a person he was but I wanted to know more about my favorite actor's life. I begun looking for some literature on him and decided not buy any of the biographies based on gossip and written to make their authors some easy buck. Instead, I bought few of his co-stars' autobiographies. Some are very interesting. Hermione Gingold for example, sums up Gary Cooper as a stoic and courageous man in just a few sentences. Nice, but I already knew it. Ingrid Bergman marvels on his naturalism. I agree with her 100%. And she tells interesting stories on filming "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Lilli Palmer shares insides on making of "Cloak and Dagger" but not much about Cooper. Patricia Neal, well, if only I could believed her, but I found her autobiography phoney. Her "remembering" of events and dialogs which supposedly have been happening about 40 y. before she wrote her book, simply lacks credibility. So, I almost gave up and then discovered Maria Cooper's loving tribute to her father. The book is absolutely wonderful! It is written with love, respect and honesty. Maria is a gifted writer and I couldn't put her book down until I finished it. She shares insides of Cooper's early life, his career, their family life, his battle with cancer, which cut his life short and his last days; there are lovely family photos, photos of Gary &Rockywith their friends Jimmy and Gloria Stewart, the Hemmingways, Picasso, Audrey Hepburn, Gary with his parents, with his monkey pet and much more. My favorite one is Coop with Maria when she was a baby- so sweet!There are also few of his sketches and facts about his taste in food, past times, hobbies and believes. To me, reading Maria's memoir was an incredible experience. It was like putting the finishing touches on a portrait of Gary, which I painted in my mind earlier, and it is now completed. I highly recommend "Gary Cooper off Camera" to every Cooper fan. It is simply a must have. Lastly, I thank Maria for sharing her love for her father with us. Thanks for the great book.
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Post by Coopsgirl on Mar 16, 2011 19:46:47 GMT -6
Thanks for posting that Maggie. I love this part:
"I watched Gary Cooper's performance in awe and I knew, I have found my oasis. Since then, I collected all of his available films, searching for the rare ones all over the world. Seeing these movies is one of the best things that ever happened to me. Gary Cooper gave me a wonderful world of emotional depth, a world of eternal love, friendship, gallantry, selflessness and patriotism. A world-refuge, where I'm able to lose myself for a while and then come back to reality inspired."
That is exactly how he makes me feel too. ;D
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